CFIA Says One Bird at BC Ostrich Farm Has Died

Ostriches eat their feed at the Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, B.C., on May 17, 2025. The Canadian Press/Aaron Hemens

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) says that one of the birds at a B.C. ostrich farm in the centre of a legal battle has died.

The CFIA took custody of nearly 400 ostriches at the Universal Ostrich Farm in Edgewood, B.C., in September as a legal battle continues over a cull order for the birds. CFIA issued the cull order in December 2024, after two of the birds tested positive for avian flu. Between Dec. 15, 2024, and Jan. 15, 2025, 69 of the ostriches on the farm died after becoming sick. The owners are opposing the order and have tried to get the court to stop the cull, saying the animals are healthy, have immunity, and have value for scientific research.

The Supreme Court issued a temporary suspension of the cull order while it considered whether to hear an appeal filed by the farm owners.

The CFIA said it had been providing medication and fluids to one of the birds with a pre-existing condition that affected its left leg and its mobility. The treatment was in line with the owners’ therapy regime, CFIA said.

“Unfortunately, the health of the bird significantly declined in the last 48 hours, and it died on October 4,” CFIA said in an update on its website.

The daughter of one of the farm owners, Katie Pasitney, said the bird’s name was Spirit and they believe she “suffered.”

”We saw Spirit throwing her head back, and that is usually a classic sign of an ostrich struggling and suffering,” she said in an Oct. 4 video posted on Facebook.

Pasitney blamed the CFIA for not properly caring for the animal, saying that trust between farmers and the agency has been ”eroded” over the case.

She has previously said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration offered to test the birds for avian flu at no cost, but that the CFIA refused. She says the CFIA also turned down requests by farm owners for independent testing of the animals.

The farm has gained international attention, with several U.S. public figures demonstrating support for the farm, including U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, American billionaire John Catsimatidis, and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. They have all urged Canada to stop the cull order.

The CFIA says the birds present a risk to people and other animals, saying they have a strain of the virus that has not been identified in Canada before and is connected to a human infection in the United States.

It said it is following the “stamping out” policy of the World Organization for Animal Health to prevent the disease from spreading.

The CFIA has said that delay in carrying out the cull order carries “potential animal and human health risks.”

The agency advised the public that it was an offence to obstruct or hinder its workers on the farm, and could result in “enforcement measures or prosecution.”

It added that the airspace about the farm was restricted, including for drones, due to a notice from Transport Canada. Violations could result in fines or jail time, CFIA said.